The doc says...

We had an appointment with the veterinary orthopedic surgeon today. She looked at the x-rays and examined Cairo. It turns out the muscles in his dislocated leg--over the month or so that it's been that way--have irreversibly shrunken up and tightened, so that even if she could fix all the bone damage, he would never have full extension of the leg. Also, the breakage in the hip and femur has shortened the leg so it doesn't quite touch the ground.

The other leg is great and seems to have almost finished healing, she says.

So really, amputating the dislocated leg is the only correct and reasonable thing to do. She scheduled the operation for next Wednesday (giving us a little more time to fatten him up and get him acclimated). If everything goes well, she'll neuter him at the same time. Then two more weeks of crate rest, and he should be good to go!

The orthopedic surgeon is a really cool and smart lady, with a great staff and a wonderful bedside manner. She is throwing in the neutering for free, and she's giving us a Good Samaritan discount to help defray all the costs we're incurring. We're very grateful for that!

This is a major surgery, and I'm going to be one hell of a nervous mom while it's happening, but it seems as though Cairo is well on his way to being an active dog. Thank goodness for that.

By the way, this post comes to you via high-speed internet!